As much as he hated to admit it, Jansi thought that after parting ways with the First Prince and rejecting the Second Prince’s courtship, Elodie ultimately chose the mercenary Ian.

When he surveyed them, the air surrounding them was different, even though they hadn’t known each other that long. 

It was as if they were old lovers, and it was not an atmosphere that could be replicated in a day or two. But once again, Jansi was wrong. 

Because once again, the target was Elodie Perdia, she was a constant source of variability. 

His concentration was disrupted.

It was hopeless to finish the letter now. Jansi put down his quill and asked Carlot.

“Did father make this decision on his own?”

“No, sister asked him to arrange a natural meeting with the Duke of Kreundel. By the way, what if Duke Kreundel harbor any ill-intentions towards our sister Lili? You know how angelic she is! Of course, she is sometimes scary…….”

Carlot began to ramble on and on about it.

As much as Carlot wanted to interrupt, he couldn’t help but think that Elodie would hate him for it.

Jansi’s thoughts were the same as Carlot’s.

“If that was the case, he would have submitted a marriage proposal long ago, Carl. Being part of one of the four major families, he would have been able to arrange it.”

“Until recently, our sister was engaged to the First Prince, so she might have hidden her feelings from others. Brother, don’t you know that?”

When Jansi stared at his overly talkative younger brother, Carlot hesitated for a moment, then avoided making eye contact and talking nonsense.

This time, Jansi just let out a normal laugh.

‘You’re so weird!’

Jansi smiled as usual, then suddenly turned cold, but the look was somehow familiar.

I’m sure I’ve encountered someone like this before, Carlot thought, trying hard to remember… 

He looked like……. 

‘Yeah, he looks like father.’

Duke Perdia and Jansi resembled each other, much more like a carbon copy.

You wouldn’t know it because he’s always smiling, but the unforgiving expression that Jansi bears has a striking resemblance to his father.

One could almost imagine Sylvester Perdia in his youth after looking at Jansi.

‘Has he changed since he found out that Lili isn’t his sister?’

It’s strange, but whether he laughs or not, Jansi Perdia is still his brother. 

Just as he had come to love Elodie, who used to fight with him every time she saw him. So does Jansi Perdia, who can even like Elodie in whatever guise he chooses. With that conclusion, Carlot’s heart relaxed for a bit. 

He approached Jansi’s side and subtly asked. 

 “So, you’re going to stay put?”

 “What do you mean?”

 “What if our sister says she’s going to marry the Duke of Kreundel? Maybe she’s going to marry him so she can get out of this estate because father is against her independence. Do you think she would offer him a contract marriage?”

Upon hearing the term “contract marriage” coming from the mouth of Duke Perdia’s second son Carlot, Jansi couldn’t help but sigh in amazement.

“Carl. I think you should stop reading romance novels.”

“I-I didn’t read it because I wanted to!”

Perhaps caught by brother at his secret hobby, Carlot’s face turned as red as a beet.

Despite that, he clenched his fist and exclaimed vehemently.

“It’s true, her maid, Martha, secretly told me that it’s a book she likes! So, I read it just for that! Do you think I would read such books because I wanted to?”

Carlot’s eyes were so full of injustice that even the area under his eyes turned reddish. Jansi, with a mischievous smile, looked down at Carlot.

“But I heard that you took books from the library that she hadn’t read before. It looks like it suits your taste quite a bit, Carl.”

Carlot’s face turned even redder, feeling unfairly exposed.

“Th-that’s…… just for reference, to know what other novels are like, no, wait a minute. How do you know that?”

How couldn’t he know about it?

‘Because I already know about Lili’s preferences.’

From favorite foods and desserts, music, novelists or poets, types of jewelry, flowers, and seasons, to the types of dresses, even the looks of men that she prefers.

Jansi was confident that he knew Elodie’s preferences better than anyone.

Which made it all the more puzzling. 

Because a man named Leon Kreundel was far from Elodie’s taste. A stoic gentleman was not Elodie’s type. In terms of appearance alone, the typical prince style, like the first Prince Adenmir, suited her taste the most.

She also liked the mercenary type, Ian. But where did Leon Kreundel, a man she had no contact with, pop up from? 

Jansi had nothing personal against the Kreundel’s. 

He belonged to one of the four major families, and since he maintained neutrality, he never got caught up in the struggle for the successor to the imperial family, and he wasn’t a bad person at all.

‘No, he is actually quite a good one.’

So why did he feel so bad? Jansi, who had been pondering about Elodie’s tastes rather deeply, smiled out of habit and looked at Carl. 

 “Carl, I think your hypothesis is wrong.”

“Why? What’s wrong with my logical hypothesis that sister might use Duke Kreundel to leave this mansion?”

Carlot asked bluntly, offended that his opinion had been denied. 

‘He really doesn’t know.’

Jansi stared at his clueless younger brother while placing his chin on his hand.

“Lili can leave this mansion anytime she wants. Even if Father opposes it. She has already taken control of her life, Carl.”

Those words hit Carlot quite hard.

“We’re just in a position where we have to wait for her decision, Carl. We can only hope that Lili shows us a bit of mercy.”

Finally understanding Jansi’s words, Carlot’s expression darkened sharply. 

“To be honest, I’m not confident, brother. Considering what I did to sister in the past… It’s natural for her to hate me. Even if I try hard, will she ever like me?”

Before Jansi could respond, Carlot looked at him and added.

“I envy you, brother. You have a good relationship with sister.”

“…Does it seem that way?”

 “Yeah.”

Maybe he should be glad that it still looked that way to others, but it was all pointless.

The person in question, Elodie, didn’t consider Jansi as her brother anymore. The current Elodie wasn’t the innocent little girl who would quickly smile if treated nicely. That made Jansi feel helpless for some reason.

Elodie considered all the kindness shown to her as fake and insincere. If he treated her kindly now, she would likely see it as another act. Jansi couldn’t figure out how to approach her.

Now that every attitude toward Elodie was sincere, she wouldn’t acknowledge it as one.

Using a smile as a mask to hide his true feelings has become one of the major sources of Jansi’s survival mechanism.

Now, it was difficult not to do it.

“You’ve never genuinely smiled at me even once.”

But from the moment he heard those words from Elodie, he found himself surprised at times when smiling out of habit. Was his smile fake now? 

He thought he was smiling from the heart, but what if he wasn’t? He was even more frightened.

It felt like a milestone in his life had been broken. 

‘I’m scared of you…..Lili.’

Jansi was afraid of Elodie.

***

Duke Perdia had promised to call me if there was an occasion to meet Duke Kreundel, but days passed by with no news. Greed, probably feeling a bit stuck up since it had been stuck in my bedroom and not going out during that time, sneaked up and sat next to me.

 [May I go out? I am Frustrated].

“Going to the garden? It’s night already.”

 [Yes. Going to the garden. And it’s nice at night].

 “You say you’re going out to the garden, but aren’t you actually secretly doing some sort of ritual for Irkala?”

 [No such misunderstanding! What are you accusing me of?]

“A Traitor. No, a treacherous evildoer?”

  [No! All I’ve done is go around the mansion and get some tasty treats!]

Greed leaped indignantly, by truly feeling unjust. I felt a renewed sense of betrayal.

‘That pig, saying that my greed was enough, yet he’s been eating behind my back, this swindler.’

Despite claiming that he gained weight because of my greed, he did everything possible to tempt me!

 [Can I ……play?]

Greed looked up at me with moist, golden eyes that were sparkling with innocence.

It was too adorable to be considered a heinous sin.

After pretending to ponder for a moment, I nodded.

 “Okay.”

 [I’ll be back-!]

“Instead, let’s go together. I was thinking of taking a stroll anyway.”

 [Why? Hmm, okay].

Greed jumped up onto my arms like it was a natural thing for him.

I was not amused by the feeling of being Greed’s exclusive means of transport.

Despite my thick shawl, the night air was chilly. Still, it wasn’t a bad wake-up call.

“Which way should we go?”

 [Why don’t we go to the building we used to live in?]

The annex.

I haven’t been to the annex since living in the main house. 

People are quick to adapt, but also quick to forget. 

Soon, the memory of living in the annex became a blur dream, even though I had lived there my entire life.

 I followed Greed’s lead and walked to the outer building.

Looking up at the building in the darkness, I was a bit surprised.

“Wasn’t it just briefly mentioned?”

The annex was indeed under construction.

It was nighttime, so the construction site was quite deserted.

As an old building, there were a lot of deteriorated parts, and they seemed to be tearing them out. 

I was curious to see what they were doing inside, so I stepped into the building.

 My footsteps echoed in the dark, unlit hallway.

 “They didn’t touch the interior.”

After a quick tour, I arrived at my favorite spot in the annex.

I was leaning against the railing of the top floor, where I had spent most of my time.

Looking out of the window, I could see a part of the main mansion.

On impulse, I opened the window, and a strong wind rushed in, tousling my hair without mercy.

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[Cold! If you’re going to freeze to death, freeze to death all alone!]

 “Don’t you know anything about romance?”

 [Freezing to death is not romantic at all!]

Unable to withstand Greed’s complaints, I had to close the window.

How long had I been crouching there? Snowflakes started falling lightly outside the window. Looking at that sight, Greed got excited and jumped up.

 [Snow!]

Greed jumped off my lap and ran away, then suddenly turned back to me.

 A familiar face stood behind Greed as he slowly approached me. 

 “Hello, Lili.”

 “Hello, Brother Jansi.”

Casually exchanging greetings, I responded as if nothing was unusual.

Casually exchanging greetings, I responded as if nothing was unusual.

Jansi’s dark hair glistened with water, as if the snow that had been pounded into it had melted. We could have asked ourselves why we were in the annex at this time of night, or why we had come here, but neither of us did.

Instead, Jansi asked me another question. 

 “Aren’t you cold?”

I replied, hugging Greed, who had climbed onto my lap. 

 “It’s warm with Black cuddled up to me.”

 “The fox follows you well.”

 “I think it recognizes the person who feeds it.”

The conversation soon lapsed into silence.

In the past, I would have made an effort to continue the conversation, but somehow I didn’t feel like doing it now. Then something caught my eye.

It was the glass bottle that Jansi was holding, and when he noticed my stare, he held it out to me. 

“Lili, I brought this for you.”

Pickled cherries. 

I stared at the bottle without taking it from him. 

It was a familiar sight.

When I was younger, Jansi used to occasionally give me this sweet treat as a gift. Seeing it brought back memories of my foolish childhood, believing firmly that he considered me as his little sister.

 “Do you like it that much, miss?”

 “Yes. Brother Jansi gave it to me as a gift. I’m going to savor it!”

Vague memories of taking them out one by one, praying fervently to see my sweet brother again. 

I looked at the bottle of pickled cherries and smiled at them bitterly.

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”

 “I brought it because it’s your favorite, don’t you like it?”

 “Pickled cherries, I don’t like them that much.”

 “Oh.”

“I liked it because my brother gave them to me.”

“I see.”

With a slight sound, Jansi’s hand that was holding the jar bottle drooped weakly.